Alzheimer’s Disease is a neurological disease in which there is the death of the brain cells. This Alzheimer’s disease leads to memory loss and cognitive decline. This is a neurodegenerative type of disease that affects the brain. Alzheimer’s Disease was first described by Alois Alzheimer in 1906. As age advances, this problem of Alzheimer’s Disease starts stepping in. To begin with, it starts with dementia or memory loss. A slight cognitive decline that takes a steep turn towards memory loss.as we age.
Understand the science behind Alzheimer’s Disease
Dementia is the collective name for progressive brain syndromes which affect memory, thinking, behavior, and emotion. Dementia is a leading cause of disability. Alzheimer’s Disease is the most common cause of dementia and accounts for 50-75% of all cases. This basically affects the elderly age group and can interfere with their daily activities.
What happens in this condition of Alzheimer’s Disease?
In this condition, the brain cells and the nerves get disrupted. The transmission and the message carrying system gets affected. This transmission of nerves is responsible for memory exchange. With time, the entire brain chemistry changes and the brain shrinks. There are gaps and plaques formed between the areas of the brain. These changes affect the mental and physical condition of the body hampering physiological functions. This can hamper your ability to speak, write, understand and comprehend. It also affects your overall brain functioning. The production of certain hormones and neurotransmitters is also affected. There is a delay in all the processes of the body.
Symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease
Typically, Alzheimer’s Disease begins with lapses in the memory-making it difficult to find words with mood swings
Some of the symptoms are as follows:
Forgetfulness of recent events, names, faces Difficulty in understanding what is being said Difficulty in talking Personality changes Confusion sets in Lack of mental and memory power The decline is the ability to reason out Stammering speech Lack of care for themselves Unsetting behavioral pattern Getting up in the middle of the night to wander Mood swings with the bursting of tears Loss of their inhibitionsAlzheimer’s Disease is an irreversible progressive disorder that slowly takes over your brain and reduces your mental power to think. Alzheimer’s Disease may cause problems with the ability to carry out simple tasks and can affect the quality of life. The brain changes can be irreversible in some cases with the formation of amyloid plaques and the death of neurons and nerve cells. This results in the loss of neurons and their connections.
Approval of Aduhelm
The FDA has accelerated the approval of Aduhelm, which is based on the reduction of these amyloid-beta plaques. These plaques can be quantified with the PET scan which can estimate their levels. This Aduheml is on the fast track for approval by the FDA. The FDA is informed the company called Biogen to conduct new clinical trials to verify the drug’s clinical benefits
With this drug by FDA, it is hoped that we can give some relief to the Alzheimer’s Disease patients and improve their quality of life